Sturdy for Common Things

Wild Things: Adventures as Amateur Naturalists

Over the past year, my little family has taken to leading a wilder life. For me, it was about finding solace wandering woodlands, to breathe the crisp air and find stillness in thought. It was a transformative year and one that has left me weak in many ways and stronger in others. For the kids… well…. They’re kids, which means they’re innately wild things– Inquiry and exploration is second nature. We’ve always spent a good deal of time outside, but our time there has changed. Now when we’re out for a walk we look closely, we listen, we feel, we identify, and we’ve become residences instead of visitors.

Building a nature literacy in my own learning and my children’s learning is now such an important part of our lives that I plan to write more about that journey here. This rekindling with nature has surfaced so many memories from my own childhood: Me lying on my back trying to take pictures of the sunlight streaming through the leaves of the trees with a point-and-shoot camera, my dad showing me a teeny garter snake he almost ran over in the yard, my brother and I walking by a line of rosemary bushes and watching bumblebees hover and bounce over the violet blooms… I want for my own children to have memories like this, of being free to roam and play and investigate. As I grow, this blog grows with me and I look forward to writing more about these wild adventures and newfound resources as amateur naturalists with you.

 

Painted Lanterns + Moonlight Lantern Walk

Lanterns have a way of making any evening magical. Inspired by the Super Blood Moon and Mid-Autumn Moon Festival this past Sunday, the kids painted paper lanterns and went on a moon walk in the evening hours. They enjoyed this art project so much that I thought it would be a good one to share and it’s also a great craft for Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, Diwali, St. Martins Day, a community lantern walk, or just a good excuse to paint and play in the twilight hours.

Materials

• Paper lanterns
• Paint
• Paint brushes
• Yarn or string
• Sticks found outside
• Flameless tea lights, glowsticks, or LED lantern lights

The lanterns require little prep and materials and the results are lovely. Here’s how we made them…

Place the paper lantern on a bowl before painting, which will help stabilize the lantern. This painting process required no assistance for my 5-year-old. She happily painted while singing to herself alone in our little art space. When she finished she found me and I hung her lantern to dry. For my almost 2-year-old, I sat with her and held the lantern and turned it for her after she as need until she decided she was finished. Easy, peasy process art both kids enjoyed.

Hang lanterns to dry for several hours. I hung ours from our ceiling fan chain and them moved them to a clothesline outside.

While waiting for the lanterns to dry, find a few sticks to attach the lanterns to. Once they have fully dried, tie a string of yarn (or thick string or twine) about a yard in length to the end of your found stick and tie the other end of the string to the top of the lantern. Wrap excess string around stick to create desired length. We used flameless tea lights to illuminate the lanterns, but if you have glowsticks or these LED lights on hand I recommend using those. I had an awful time jimmying the tea lights so they would hold in the lanterns. Word to the wise.

I thought I’d prefer the lanterns more in the daylight, but when the sun went down they transformed into these floating orbs of light. After watching moon rise up, we went lit our lanterns and took a moonlight lantern walk in our neighborhood.

An enchanting twilight walk around the block turned into a delightful adventure with our painted lanterns. Just imagine an assembly of these lanterns flickering about… What a sight that would be!

For more lantern projects check out:

These leaf lanterns, colorful paper maché lanterns, and sweet mason jar lanterns with beaded handles via Kleas.

Grace Lin, author of Thanking the Moon: Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival (and so many other fantastic kids books!) has a fun Bunny Lantern Craft tutorial on her blog.

Children’s Art Lanterns using paper bags and kids’ artwork is definitely on our project to-do list via Artful Kids.

Sunday Moonbeams

Happy Sunday!

This picture is of a “fairy path” the kids created one evening last week just before the sun slipped away.

Last week I had the best intentions of going to bed early. Every evening I made a silent declaration that tonight was THE NIGHT. It was happening.  Instead, books piled high on my nightstand, another glass of red wine with a new friend, writer’s block, and I fell through the infamous internet rabbit hole. Allowing these happy distractions resulted in blurry eyed mornings, but nothing a cup of coffee couldn’t fix. Ah, well… Maybe this week.

Or not.

At least not tonight.

Forecasted for tonight, the Harvest Moon is going to put on quite a show.  It is a super moon, blood moon, and there will also be a total lunar eclipse. It’s going to a spectacular sight! Here’s more information on how to see the rare super blood moon total eclipse.

Today is also the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, also know as the Harvest Moon Festival, a special holiday gathering with friends and family, giving thanks, and celebrating the harvest season in China and surrounding areas. To celebrate, have a moon picnic outside, make lanterns (like these) and turn out the lights, read a story about the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival (we enjoy this book), or make a wish on the moon. Another way to celebrate is eat round foods for dinnertime like pot pie, pizza, or a bowl of soup. If you have an Asian grocery store near you, pick up some mooncakes for a sweet treat. One of my former storytime families were from China and brought me mooncakes to the library one year and they were delicious! The mother of the family mentioned that what she enjoys most about Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is that when you look up at the moon, you think of loved ones far away, and it is comforting to know they are looking up at the same moon that evening thinking of you. If and when you look up tonight, look up and think of someone(s) you love. Who knows… They might be looking up at that very moment thinking of you.

Also, be sure to check out these Harvest Moon books and simple moon activities for kids.

I hope you’re able to take a moment to soak in some moonbeams tonight! Have a great week!

Listening to: Neil Young “Harvest Moon”  and Bill Evans “Moon Beams” 

 

 

Pumpkin Stew

I was looking through last year’s Pumpkin & Compost Storytime blog post and just now noticed I left out one of my favorite parts of that storytime! Pumpkin Stew!

My former coworker, Vicki, made this fun prop to go along with this autumn song and was so kind to allow me to borrow it for this storytime. She cut out the top of a decorative styrofoam pumpkin that can be found at dollar stores or craft stores and she also made or found all the ingredients mentioned in the song. I can’t believe I forgot to write about this, because it was one of the highlights of that storytime! I even found the pictures I had meant to include in a file from last year! Oh well. Better late than never, right?

I kept all the ingredients for the pumpkin stew in a separate bowl that the audience couldn’t see into and added them to the hallow pumpkin as each item was mentioned in the song. As we sang the song, I invited the audience to pretend to make their own pumpkin stew  by making stirring motions and putting ingredients in a pretend pot as they sang along.

 

PUMPKIN STEW

Pumpkin stew, pumpkin stew
Let’s cook up some pumpkin stew! (Stirring motion with arms)

Squirrel brings acorns. (Add acorns)
Owl brings leaves. (Add leaves)

Pumpkin stew, pumpkin stew
Let’s cook up some pumpkin stew! (Stirring motion with arms)

Spider brings web. (Add cotton)
Mouse brings corn. (Add corn cob)

Pumpkin stew, pumpkin stew
Let’s cook up some pumpkin stew! (Stirring motion with arms)

Chipmunk brings apple seeds. (Add apple seeds)
Scarecrow brings straw. (Add straw)

Pumpkin stew, pumpkin stew
Let’s cook up some pumpkin stew! (Stirring motion with arms)

Now, pumpkin seeds and pumpkin goo (Add pumpkin seeds and ribbon for pumpkin goo)
But I don’t think I’m hungry..

How about YOU?! (Show audience the inside of the pumpkin with all ingredients added and say something like “Eeeeeeeewww! Yuck!”)

 

 

If you’re looking for books to enjoy during this time of the year, check out the autumn book list I put together earlier this week. Oh, how I love this time of year. Happy Fall!

 

Happy Autumn Equinox

Happy Autumnal Equinox!

Today is the first day of the fall season. This morning, the girls woke up to a couple tiny tokens and nature treasures from the autumn fairies, an equinox and solstice tradition in our house. The leaves have barely started turning (this photo is of an arrangement I made last year in late October), but it always happens fast. Autumn can be a busy time of year and I hope you’re able to find some solace, even if it’s only for a moment to enjoy the glow of an autumn evening. Maybe even catch a glimpse of that mischievous Harvest Moon.

As a reminder to slow down and take pleasure in this time of year, I wrote a to-do list for myself for these next several weeks.

MY AUTUMNAL TO-DO LIST:
Take a long walk with only the trees as companions.
Jump in a leaf pile.
Listen to records in the evening twilight.
Write a postcard to a friend.
Attend a fall festival.
Visit a pumpkin patch.
Play outside with my babies.
Be patient.
Stargaze often.

 

What’s on your autumnal to-do list?